Lindblom selected for Lifetime Achievement Award

The purpose of the Lifetime Achievement Award is to recognize and honor an ASPR member for a distinguished career and for significant contributions made to the field of in-house physician recruitment. Lindblom has made significant contributions to ASPR over many years and is both a role model and an inspiration for others. He has demonstrated a lifetime commitment to advancing the field of in-house physician recruitment.

Lindblom was also a co-founding member of the Wisconsin Staff Physician Recruiters Association (WSPR). He is a regular speaker for the ASPR Fellowship Program and has frequently presented at ASPR annual conferences and regional conferences. Lindblom’s volunteerism doesn’t stop within his professional world; he is also a dedicated volunteer fireman (Battalion Chief) for the Middleton Fire District, Middleton, WI.
View a video photo montage that was played at the Annual Business Meeting honoring Lindblom.

Lindblom’s Acceptance Speech

I am very honored and grateful to receive this award. I guess a lifetime achievement award must also mean that I am kind of old.

In fact, during the past few weeks I have had a few age related events … I turned 50 and actually thought I was doing pretty well until my 11-year-old daughter told me that she knew I was old because I was starting to get wrinkles around my eyes. But she quickly followed up with, “don’t worry, I saw some eye cream on TV that will help make them go away.” My other birthday greetings included a call from our GI department noting they we’re looking forward to having me come in for a colonoscopy and the American Association of Retired Persons sent me my AARP Membership Card.

There is no doubt now that this special award will help make the memory of those bad events go away.

Since 1990, you could say that ASPR has aged — and even though we may not want to admit it, we all have. But it is important to recognize that age is not a bad thing... Age improves compound interest, fine wine and also ASPR.

When I started as an in-house recruiter in 1986, it was a bit awkward as there were so few of us. From an industry perspective, in-house recruiters were unknown as it was the era of physician search firms that led the way.

With the creation of ASPR, we had something to hold on to — and with it came a great desire to learn, network and ask each other for help. We knew we would be better and stronger together rather than alone. Our beginning was humble, as we were seen by some as uneducated and “lesser than.” Most likely they were right about our skills and depth of knowledge, but what these people did not know or see was our strong persistence and unwavering determination to succeed.

We have evolved as an organization from the early years. One of our early annual conferences was held in Kansas City with one meeting room and just a few exhibitors with small tables outside of the main room. I recall the general membership meeting held at that meeting with all conference attendees present.

It was not long after that meeting that I got involved in volunteering with ASPR. I, along with the many other volunteers over the years, spent a fair amount of time in meetings and conference calls. These meetings were not always easy. As you can imagine, everyone on the board or committee had his or her own opinion and sometimes it was as pretty strong. But, in the end we always agreed on the best decision knowing that it would benefit our membership and make ASPR better.

As an organization and a profession, we are now well known and sought after for advice. Professionally, we evolved from holding positions known as recruitment assistants or coordinators to managers, directors and VPs. We are now recognized by our executives for our knowledge and expertise. As Thomas Huxley said, “The rung of a ladder was never meant to rest upon, but only to hold a man’s foot long enough to enable him to put the other somewhat higher.”

It is important to know where we have come from, what we have learned from our past and our plans for the future. Because of our mutual persistence and determination, we have reached this level of success. But remember that we will always need to keep learning new things, getting better and reaching new heights.

What makes ASPR special is our genes, culture, emotions and easy access to group therapy. Being a volunteer has always been fun and rewarding, because of the opportunity to work with so many other talented individuals who have helped make ASPR what it is today. It is truly an organization that will give you a 100% return on the personal investment you make through volunteering.

I am very thankful for the great friendships I have gained through ASPR; in fact, they seem to get better every year. This year was a bit unique, though, as I received a text from one of those good friends after I returned to my room the other night from the bar. The text said, “goodnight and I miss you and love you.” This no doubt made me feel a little awkward because we are both married. Fortunately, moments later I got another text saying, “oops sorry that was meant for my husband.” I was greatly relieved.

We have excellent leadership in place at ASPR, with Jen as our executive director, Debbie now leading our exceptional board and our distinguished committee chairs. But even though we have a great leadership team, we will always need new volunteers to come forward as future leaders. I challenge each of you to continue your professional development and be involved in ASPR. We all need to continue to drive to make ASPR and our profession stronger.

We have a proven niche in the healthcare industry, and now more than ever we are needed to help our physicians and organizations in the changing world of healthcare.

Over the years, I have had many opportunities to share both the joys and the challenges of my job and being a physician recruiter with my wife. During the few times when things were challenging, my wife always gave me the same, well-appreciated advice: “If something is not fun, you should not do it; but most importantly you need to do what you love and love what you do.”

I am happy to tell you that being part of ASPR has always been fun and I have always loved being a recruiter.